Story week.

Dear family,

Hi!  I am currently living the dream, loving life, in my little Kecskemét town.  I am loving it here.  The work is good.  I am so familiar with everything that I can walk around and catch buses without even thinking about it.  It is really nice, and I am grateful for that.  The people are awesome and the ward is great.  The bishop actually called us yesterday and let us know that he has a new video for missionaries!!  He speaks english... so he might have been previewing it to make sure it was all understandable.  It is about the temples and we are really excited to go over there and watch it with him, the elders, and Vágó Éva--the awesome lady that let us use her computer to skype on Christmas.  So, we will see how we can better help the members in the ward get ready to enter the temple.  Little something about the Hungary Budapest mission--our mission purpose is two parts.  We invite people to come unto Christ and we also strengthen the ward or branch we serve in by helping them go to the temple.  Cool purpose.  I recite it almost everyday.  

We had an awesome program planned with our great friend Anna, all about the word of wisdom.  She is a teenager, so we drew up all of these different options and she could erase the bad things.  I was so stoked, and it was really fun drawing everthing up there... and then... she didn't come!!  I was so sad.  We figured we would leave the drawing up on the board, no big deal.  But, the next day we had a program with an old man that was not understanding different dispensations, so I erased the whole thing... it was so sad.  But, totally worth it!  We were teaching Sándor, a very Catholic man, and he is very set in his Catholic ideas.  But, as we slowly taught him and worked with him, it was amazing how the spirit started working and how he started understanding things.  So awesome.  Sister Behunin and I were a little bit worried that we would get into an argument about the things that we were teaching, but it all worked out.  Tons of prayers were said, and it all worked out.  So amazing.  Who knows what next lesson will be like... but we have a newly baptized member coming to our program so that should bring some good new member fire!!

Sister Behunin and I

Since Sister Behunin and I are new companions, and so we just talk allllll of the time.  I love it!  We are getting along really great.  But, i keep telling her stories that are funny--because I am a funny person--and she asked if I send a particular one home.  The answer was no... so know I will tell you all the awkward cake story:

Sister Kimball and I were serving together, it was probably November time.  There is this super nice Elder, Elder Hunnicutt.  He loves baking!  So, he baked Sister Kimball and I our own cakes. We had travelled by train to Szeged for a zone meeting, and it was about 10 in the morning and I was super hungry!  And then Elder Hunnicutt gave me my cake.  Yummy!  Unfortunately I am not always the most lady like... so... I just kinda started eating it with my fingers while we were waiting at the train station for a ride to the meeting.  A couple other missionaries had some.  And then we went to the meeting.  Meeting finished.  Rode the train home.  Our cakes weren't wrapped with saran wrap or anything, so they were just exposed to the world, and people kept asking Sister Kimball and I if they could help us.  It was kind of funny/weird.  We got to our bus stop when some lady came up to me, and very nicely asked what I had.  I told her it was American cake and she just kept staring.  Then, still very nicely, she said she would like some.  I was super confused and then just got on the bus, because our bus showed up.  I thought she was just being funny like everyone else that had been "so funny".  We get on the bus, and sit down, and then she came up and sat down next to us.  Asked again if she could have some.  I realized she was super serious and she super wanted some.  So, I told her I could only give her a piece with my fingers and she said that wasn't a problem at all... so I awkwardly ripped her off a piece of cake and gave it to her.  She grabbed the little piece and just hobbled away.  I am sure it was really a nice thing, but I was so confused by it all.  I couldn't help but just laugh and laugh when I got home.  Ha!!  So that is my awkward cake story.

And for story sake, let me tell another one.  This time about the language:

Our new branch house!!!

Sister Behunin and I are teaching the cutest girl, early twenties.  She had specific questions about the law of chastity, so we taught it to her. My favorite lesson ever!  So, I was trying to encourage her and support her to live it (buzdítani=to encourage or exhort).  So, I tried to say buzdítalak (I support you.)  But, I couldn't remember that it was a straight up z, I thought it was an sz (that means it makes a regular "s" noice in english), so it sounded a little bit more like pusztítalak.  Now, that is a completely different word (pusztítani=to destroy).  So, I kept saying that I destroy you.  Over.  And over.  Even when Sister Behunin and our investigator tried to help me get it right, I just kept destroying her, over and over.  But, she was laughing, so that is a good thing :)

The work is good.  I am happy and healthy and getting better at missionary work everyday.  I speak Hungarian.  I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father.  I understand that true happiness comes through keeping the commandments (please see Mosiah 2:41 for the full reference), and I just want to be obedient.

Keep it real this week!

Sok szeretettel,

Kennedy nővér